365Project.2016 | Week 36

 Welcome back! ♥
Thanks for letting me share a bit of our everyday with you. ♥

Day 248. These two were hamming it up before church ... Abby loves to take pictures with the old cell phone, and Matthew's quite pleased to oblige her. ♥

The Duplos are back out (in moderate quantities) for Abby's benefit, but the big kids are happy to play with them again, too. :)

Of course, the best part about building a tower is knocking it over. ;)

Day 249. I love this man. ♥ Night shift has definitely been an adjustment, but we're settling into a rhythm with it. Abby certainly didn't mind finding his lap available this afternoon ... ;)

 ♥

Day 250. Science experiments! :) If you happen to be bored, I suggest sprinkling a large amount of pepper into a sink full of water and then gently touching it with a sliver of soap. You're welcome. :)

Our homeschool group also started meeting today, but I totally forgot to get a picture!

Day 251. My friend Amanda and I had the surprise and blessing of winning a giveaway at a local salon for free manicures! We thoroughly enjoyed our girls' date!!! ♥ 

The kids were delighted this evening when they noticed that Mommy's nails match her favorite purple pen! :)

Day 252. With Daddy leaving for work right after dinner, Mommy's been letting the kids enjoy a few episodes of Richard Scarry cartoons before bedtime. :)

And then once the kiddos are in bed, Mommy starts her "second" job. :) It's actually more like play, but that's the blessing of it. :) The Lord has opened the door to become a "Lemon Dropper" for Young Living's essential oils. They have been such a blessing to our family, and I'm excited to have the privilege to share them with others! I have no idea exactly what He will do with it ... whether He'll bless with many opportunities or few, but I had SO much fun preparing a welcome kit for my very first and most favorite customer ... my Mom. ♥ I love being able to teach and help others, and by God's grace, I hope to be able to prepare similar welcome kits for many others down the road. ♥

Day 253. My budding author and illustrator thoroughly enjoyed putting together his second book today! (You may remember his first book, Corn Stalk, published this spring.) ;)

The big kids had their bags packed and ready by noon ... for their 4:00 departure to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a fun overnight! :) They had a blast, complete with flashlight tag, star gazing, and a cute pumpkin craft. ♥

Those of us left out of that fun made our own fun. ;) We began with a steak dinner ... (so much more budget-friendly on your own grill ...)

And concluded the evening with a thorough cleaning (and purging) of the boys' bedroom. No, we do not make a habit of cleaning (or purging!) our kids' bedrooms. However, it had gotten beyond the capability of the 6-year-old who was the primary culprit of the disaster. As crazy as it may seem, being able to work together on the project, without interruptions (or protests by the aforementioned 6yo), made for a very pleasant and satisfying evening. :) The bedroom is now back to a manageable state, facilitated greatly by two trash bags worth of missing "stuffage" ... (shhh! Only two items have actually been missed ...)

 Day 254. And then Saturday morning, while Chris launched into the utility room project (new water softener and filter system upcoming) ...

 Abby enjoyed some quality time with the Little People ...

And Mommy sorted Legos. Pins. Couplers. Axles. So. Many. Legos. Again, it was nice to be able to work together in the same area and chat without interruptions. ♥

And this picture was too cute to pass up ... my girls! Abby definitely approves of Hannah's execution of bath night. ♥ And Mommy's thankful for the help. ♥

And thus concludes our week. ♥
I'm so excited to be able to share just one week at a time again! :) Thanks for stopping by!

265Project.2016 | Week 35

Yippee!!! ONE. WEEK. Just ONE week!!! I am SO excited about this!!! (Can you tell????) I've been behind for so long. Here's hope for updating more regularly again! It's so much more fun and so much quicker to share just one week at a time! ♥

Day 241. Oh my yes, this cutie-patootie was way too pleased with herself for figuring out how to get in the desk chair and "use" the keyboard and mouse ...

Day 242. Somehow, I suspect that most students would prefer to be sitting like this to do their school work ... #welovehomeschool

Day 243. Tuesday was full to the brim and a little bit crazy and overwhelming ... 
 
Monday evening, we discovered that our fridge was leaking ... so it received a place of honor. Right smack dab in the middle of the kitchen. Lovely, isn't it? And trying to put groceries away while my hubby also occupied that prime real estate while trying to diagnose the problem hadn't worked too well. So I left them. On the counter.

We left that place of crazy to enjoy some fun with our homeschool friends at a park playdate. They did have playground equipment at this park. But really? Who wants to go down a slide when you can splash in the creek??? And though they generated significant amounts of laundry for their mamas, they all had a blast. :)

And then we came back to crazy. ;) And I had office work to do, so I continued to ignore the kitchen. #yikes

My fun really began after Chris left for work (night shift this week...) and the kiddos headed to bed. I had the opportunity to help my friend host an essential oils class! We've been using essential oils for about six months, and they've really been a blessing to our family. It was so fun to be able to share some of what I've been learning with others! ♥

Day 244. Abby-girl loves her Children's Bible. ♥

Day 245. The greedy and ever hungry Mr. PacMan has helped yet another 1st grader successfully navigate the waters of "greater than" and "less than." :)

Day 246. Miss Cutie enjoyed her toast. ♥

Day 247. I am so blessed by my Hannah-bug!!! Seriously. Every mama needs a Hannah-bug. Her sweet, helpful spirit is such a blessing and help to me, especially with Chris working some really crazy hours. ♥

 She had fun being sous chef for the day and made a killer meatloaf and twice-baked potatoes!

And that, my friends, was our week!
I love sharing just one week with you! 

Happy September!

365Project.2016 | July and August Highlights

Well, my friends, summer has been and gone. We were blessed with an abundance of good health and fun memories. And if my blog is ever going to see the light of day again, the details must give way to the highlights ... enjoy the cliff notes version of our summer! ♥

Day 186. Happy Independence Day! We had so much making these shirts as a craft project with our friends!

We also had fun visiting the Genesee Country Village and Museum (GCVM) for their Independence Day celebrations!

 

 Day 188. Abby-girl loves the tractor! ♥

 Day 189. We spent a couple weeks watching dog competition reruns almost every day during lunch. :)

 Day 190. Of course, the sprinkler came out also. :)

 

 

Day 191. I had fun sewing new curtains for our pop-up camper in preparation for our camping trip with our friends from SC!

 Day 193. On our way to KY!!

 Day 196. We were blessed to be able to visit the newly completed Ark Encounter with our friends!

 It's beautiful, inside and out, and it's simply enormous!

Abby loved the petting zoo. ♥

 Hannah and Faith-Ann were so glad to be able to be together again! ♥

 

 Day 197. The next day we traveled a bit farther north and visited the Creation Museum. 

 Matthew got surprised by a rather "friendly" goat!

Day 198. Abby sneaked in a bike ride every chance she could get! ;)

 

 We love camping with friends! ♥

Day 201. We enjoyed a play date with both friends and cousins today! The sand pile has been a rather popular spot this summer. :)

 Day 205. Hannah enjoyed a bike ride with Grandpa! ♥

 

 And Abby enjoyed the pool!

Day 211. The big kids were enjoying VBS with Grandma on Abby's birthday, so Mommy and Abby went on a walk and had fun with balloons. :)

 Day 212. We officially celebrated the next day with friends. :)

Happy 2nd birthday, Abby-girl! We love you!! ♥

Day 215. Abby and Emily ... two peas in a pod! ♥ Me thinks these girls will get into plenty of mischief together as they get older. :)

 

 We had fun painting pencil boxes for the new school year!

 I love seeing their creativity!

Day 217. We enjoyed another visit with Great Grandma and Grandpa while all of the cousins and second-cousins were out visiting! :)

 

Hmmm, those are two pretty Grandmas right there! ♥

Great Grandpa making his famous milkshakes! ♥ (He's been doing these since I was a little girl!) ♥

Peter raided the gardens ... he loves bringing Great Grandma the biggest bouquet he can possibly manage! ♥

Day 219. Daddy's pretty amazing! With summer winding down and a business trip looming, Mommy was feeling a bit less than prepared for the upcoming school year. Daddy graciously offered to take the kids to GCVM's Laura Ingalls Wilder days by himself so that Mommy could have a quiet house for the day. What a blessing! Among other things, they super enjoyed Daddy's treat of carriage ride. :)

 

 And ending the day with ice cream was definitely a winner! ;)

Day 222. The kids enjoyed attending soccer camp again this year. :)

 Day 223. We discovered this summer that Abby loves cucumbers. Straight from the garden. :)

Day 225. Our friends' blessed us with a date night before Chris left town. :)

 Day 227. Daddy with his munchkins. ♥

 

Hannah and Peter's Sunday School classes spent weeks preparing for their reenactment of the Battle of Jericho! So thankful for their teachers who are investing in the lives of their students. ♥

On the way to the airport, I happened to drive by a beautiful sunflower farm that was open for tours!! I decided that it would make a fun distraction after church ... ♥

 

 

And with school starting the next day, I decided it was an ideal time to take their annual "First Day of School" pictures as well. :) 

Hannah ~ 6/7th grade

 Peter ~ 4th grade

 Matthew ~ 1st grade

 

Day 229. Heart. Be. Still. We bought these aprons only last year for me and Hannah ... I'm sure it was just last year ... or was it about seven years ago???? Where does time go!?!?

 Day 230. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and moved school outside ... :)

 Day 231. Somebody was super happy to see Daddy again! ♥

Day 235. Abby's always happy to help her big brother ... we're so thankful for our newly repurposed school spot!

Day 237. Brothers. ♥ There's plenty of squabbles between these two, so it's always a blessing to see them working, playing, and having fun together. ♥

 

Day 240. Bikes have been another big thing this summer ... and after a summer's hard use, the boys' bikes were in need of repair. We were blessed by a man at work who had a few extras lying about that we could salvage for parts. Daddy opened his Bike Repair Shop, and in a few hours, both bikes were riding well again. :)

And that was our summer ... thanks for popping in! ♥